‘Pirates, Slavery, and the Cinematic 18th Century’

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Tuesday, February 13th 2018

Long Island University English professor Srividhya Swaminathan has written widely about the history of the slavery and 18th century literature, most notably in her book, “Debating the Slave Trade: The Rhetoric of British National Identity, 1759-1815.” She and Wagner College English professor Steven W. Thomas co-edited a collection of essays, “The Cinematic Eighteenth Century: History, Culture, and Adaptation,” published by Routledge last fall. The collection includes Thomas’s essay on cinematic slavery and Swaminathan’s essay on pirates. She will give a brief talk about their experience of putting the book together and her hypothesis about what’s new in the recent television shows, “Crossbones” and “Black Sails.” After the lecture, Swaminathan and Thomas will be signing copies of their book.